£19m cuts to Arts Council England (ACE) - Reaction from Bright Space and Creativity, Culture and Education (CCE)
Date Posted:21 June 2010
Following the announcement by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to cut Arts Council England (ACE) 2010/11 budget by £19 million, ACE has made the decision to reduce all Regularly Funded Organisations (RFO’s) by 0.5% across the board. This has resulted in CCE, which manages the Creative Partnerships programme being cut by £1.6m. CCE currently manage the Creative Partnerships creative learning programme in schools, which Bright Space delivers across Birmingham, Herefordshire and Worcestershire. In addition to these cuts the Find Your Talent programme, managed by CCE has been ended with immediate effect as of 17 June 2010.
Deborah Kermode, Director at Bright Space said: ‘Whilst we are disappointed at the announced cuts to both CCE and the Find Your Talent programme, Bright Space is committed to ensuring children and young people continue to engage with arts and culture through the Creative Partnerships programme until the end of the current financial year. We have recently recruited over 100 schools to the programme, which will enable them to start their creative learning journey this September. We will continue to work collaboratively and successfully with the cultural and creative industries, schools and local authorities across our region, promoting brighter futures and widening young people’s involvement in cultural activity.’
Commenting on the CCE cuts, Paul Collard, Director of CCE said: ‘As a charity the cut of £1.6 million to in-year funding from the Arts Council has been very painful for us. However, after much hard work, we have managed to achieve these cuts within the organisation without impacting on the schools and children involved in the Creative Partnerships creative learning programme.’ Full statement
Regarding Find Your Talent, Paul Collard continued: ‘We are very disappointed with the government’s decision to cut the Find Your Talent pilot cultural offer, which has already benefitted hundreds of thousands of children and young people across the country.’
He added: ‘Moving forward, any local Find Your Talent projects that have already been committed to will continue. And at CCE we are determined to use the lessons already emerging from the Find Your Talent pilot to date and build it into our continuing work to ensure that all children can experience and access the diverse range of cultural activity that England has to offer.’ Full statement
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Created in Birmingham offers a breakdown of the funding cuts for each RFO in the West Midlands.
